Murder in the Area
by Rachelandes
Summary: Haibara couldn't cure the poison that shrunk Kudo Shinichi then her. Instead they went through elementary school with the detective boys and grew up for the second time. Conan always loved soccer and, given the chance, joined the Enoshima High School Football Club. However, his corpse-magnet tendencies are in full force and cause complications in his daily life.


This update was just me fixing a couple of grammar things I noticed reading through it. Sorry to disappoint.

I do not own the Knight in the Area nor Case Closed, sadly. I am however fully responsible for any and all grammatical errors, illogicalness, and overall mistakes in this piece. Feel free to point out any you find in my writing and, most importantly,  
/have fun watching me put characters I've stolen in situations their creators never imagined! Then tell me how much you love/hate it! Because I LOVE reviews! Anyway, enjoy... !

...

Edogawa Conan. Over the years he'd gotten used to the name but it was still strange to think he'd never be Kudo Shinichi again. Haibara had eventually admitted that the chance of reversing the effect of APTX 4869 was slim to none. She'd still study it,  
/still try to concoct an antidote, but she was honest with him. There was very little hope they'd get their old bodies back and practicality none it'd happen before people got tired of waiting for them.

He'd strung Ran out for years, said he had to be gone, that it was important and dangerous. That was long over, he'd conceded the fact that she couldn't just wait for his return. For all intents and purposes Kudo Shinichi was dead and would remain that  
/way until a miracle occurred, but he didn't anticipate such godly intervention.

The Black Organization was finished, decimated by ruthless pursuit and unyielding determination. It'd taken a while, Conan knew, but his family and friends were no longer in danger. The follow up investigation had supplied no poison for Ai to work from.  
/Blood samples and biopsies could only tell her so much and hope was more or less abandoned.

They accepted their situation, understood that their last real shot at reclaiming their old lives was gone. They adjusted, attended classes with the detective boys and graduated elementary school. Conan kept the glasses. They were useful on cases and  
/he still didn't want anyone to connect the dots between his identities. He even made sure his hair was tidy and didn't let it grow out the way he used to as Shinichi. Then middle school came and went. They solved murders, kidnappings, and thefts.  
/They prevented bombings and circumvented tragedies.

Eventually they applied for high school. Ayumi-kun, Genta, and Mitsuhiko went their separate ways, sure to encounter less crime without Conan around. Things had been… strained, for a while now. It had happened gradually. The detective boys became less  
/interested in cases and focused more on their studies and after school clubs, which was fine. It was natural. But they'd started to get used to not being surrounded by dead bodies and atrocities all the time. So when a particularly brutal mass murderer  
/struck and they couldn't do anything to stop it, something inside them broke a little.

They weren't kids anymore, weren't resilient the way they used to be. The horror of the killings stuck with them and being around Conan just reminded them of the gore, because even if the victims were different seeing dead bodies just stirred up memories.  
/They'd drifted apart. They were still friendly in class, but they started to find excuses not to be around Conan anymore.

Haibara stayed though. Of course she would. She'd be hard pressed to find another person who understood the difficulties of becoming someone new and reliving childhood with a new name after being established as an adult. Theirs was a unique situation.  
/And she didn't mind the deaths they way the others did. She didn't get as invested and could tolerate the aftermath. So they stuck together, two shrunken people becoming adults for the second time.

They ended up at Enoshima High for no particular reason. They wanted a change in venue from Tokyo. Enoshima provided that. They had to acquaint themselves with the local police department pretty early on, but were prudent enough to do so with references  
/before Conan stumbled across his first body of the district. They weren't taken seriously at first but a phone call with Megure-tante detailing the sheer quantity of cases they'd been involved with soon added to their credibility. A few murder cases  
/later things were running smoothly. It probably helped that he was a high schooler again, not a elementary student.

He didn't have to hide his deductions after the B.O. was dismantled so "Sleeping Kogoro" became less lethargic. He made a name for himself as an up-and-coming young detective in Tokyo, gaining fame just as he had the first time around. He was careful  
/about it this time, tried to keep his name out of the papers on big cases. He didn't get cocky. He wasn't going to make the same mistakes. Even so became known as more than just a corpse magnet and a clever kid. The recognition made solving cases  
/easier, probably eased their transition from Tokyo with proof of competency.

Tokyo just reminded him too much of his old life, of being Shinichi. He wasn't that person anymore and wouldn't be again for a long time, maybe never. So he left it behind. Left the Kudo mansion and Professor Agasa, though he still received and used gadgets  
/for safety purposes. Left with Haibara to live as Conan as best he could.

...

The first day at Enoshima High was crowded and loud, but Conan had known it would be. Haibara accompanied him through the hoards of people, walking beside him as the navigated around club recruiters. They'd become close over the years, but she never spoke  
/abundantly about unimportant issues. The silence between them was comfortable and one of the many things that had become commonplace in Conan's life. Though that's not to say she didn't shatter the quiet out of apathetic curiosity whenever the mood  
/struck her.

"Are you planning to join a club, Kudo-kun?" Haibara asked as they dodged an enthusiastic student advertising the tennis team. He sidestepped a baseball player before responding.

"I haven't decided. I might check some out after the inaugural ceremony, but I don't have anything in mind."

She smirked and glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "Not even the soccer club? I know you still play. You're good enough you could make a living as a pro. Or are you still thinking you'll become an official detective after high school? Same plan  
/this time around?"

A bystander's ear perked and head swiveled to catch the conversation at Haibara's forth word.

Conan shrugged. "Maybe. I'm not the same person as I was last time. Professional athlete is a potential career choice but there are conflicting circumstances. I'm pretty sure getting caught up in cases and postponed by the police department would cause  
/issues with the practice schedule." It was a dry observation but a valid one. The bodies that piled up around Conan consumed his free time and cut into his life as it was. In elementary and middle school if Conan was late the teachers just assumed  
/he'd come across a crime scene on the way to school. He always showed up with a note of apology from the police station later.

Professional? The eavesdropper must have misheard. There was someone at this school with the skills to become a professional soccer player but wasn't sure if even even wanted to join the team?

"I suppose. I just can't help but remember how much fun you used to have when you ran circles around everyone, five against one using only one foot. Not to mention that J-leaguers case. You were completely enthralled even before the bombings. I guess  
/it's been a while though." She smirked again. "Or maybe you're just rusty and don't want to embarrass yourself."

Five on one? J-leaguers? Did she really mean the top level professional football league composed of the best players in the country who signed contracts with the 18 teams that fought it out to represent Japan in the FIFA World Cup? What did she mean case?  
/What bombings?

Conan laughed. "Yes, Haibara, it has been awhile since I played five on one. Maybe five years. Not to mention I had the technique from before the shrink and I was playing grade schoolers. The J-league class was fun though. Especially when Sempi surrendered,  
/though he was definitely going easy on me. It was a lot of fun just playing soccer before Ran called about the advanced notice. But Haibara, you can't just expect the cases to stop. You know full well that I don't go looking for crime scenes anymore.  
/But we still end up getting involved regularly. I can't expect the soccer team to just deal with that. High schoolers don't usually bounce back from the... less tidy cases as well."

This made no sense. What shrunk and why did that matter? The guy had some sort of experience being instructed by professional soccer players? What was this about crime scenes?

"I guess. But you should still look into it. You need to do something other than school and crime solving. You love soccer. And you should probably have more than one friend in high school, trouble-magnet aside. Otherwise who knows what chaos your mother  
/will unleash towards that goal."

That sounded better. Except for the mother part. That sounded like mass confusion.

He shuddered. "You're right. Murder is one thing. No one should have to deal with my mother's intervention. That'd probably take weeks to straighten out. Or they might try to kidnap me again, which would be inconvenient."

Yeah. Mass confusion. But more importantly, Hyodo Makoto had just found a new member. Now just the matter of recruiting him…

It took Conan all of two seconds to realize he was being forcibly dragged from the courtyard. In that two seconds Haibara had managed to remove the hand pulling her off the path and secure it behind the assailant's back, twisting his arm viciously. Perhaps  
/it was wrong to say Conan's cases didn't affect her, seeing as that was part of her motivation to learn self-defense. She was very skilled and very much disliked being jarred about by anyone, let alone strangers.

"Who are you and where were you attempting to take us?" They were just steps from the courtyard, barely detached from the crowd. It seemed Haibara didn't want to hold up traffic with such a trivial matter. We'd been involved in a lot of abductions and  
/this one hardly seemed worthy of attention.

"Hyodo Makoto," the blonde choked out. "Second year. I'm on the soccer team. I was going to escort you to the club." Haibara glanced at Conan, who nodded and the would-be abductor was released.

"Sumimasen Hyodo-sempi. We were a little surprised and responded with force. Forgive us." Despite her polite words Haibara made no move to bow in apology, keeping he ex-captive in her sights.

Mako looked warily between his victims turned attackers before nodding and accepting the apology. "It was my mistake, I shouldn't have just grabbed you. And call me Mako." He rolled his shoulder, trying to alleviate the lingering discomfort.

"Hai. Ano, Mako-senpai? Why were you dragging us to the soccer club?" This time it was Conan who spoke up, trying to distract the older boy from the assault. He seemed intimidated by the sudden change in Haibara'stone.

"You said you were thinking about playing soccer here. I was going to make sure you joined the right team. This school has two soccer clubs, the Enoshima High Soccer Club representative team - called the SC - and the Enoshima High Football Club - the  
/FC. There's a match every year to determine which team plays in the official games. The SC usually wins but their soccer is boring, always using the same tactic of exploiting physical advantages. I'm in the FC where we play with enginuity instead  
/of mindlessly following orders."

Well. That sounded different. Conan turned towards Haibara, silently asking for her assessment. She shrugged and he sighed in response. She was no help. "I guess you should take us to the FC then. Oh, I'm Edogawa Conan and this is Haibara Ai. Yoroshi  
/gozaimasu."

And with that they were being led to a remote corner of campus and herded into a dingy shed.

It was crowded inside, both with people and equipment. Six players and one coach occupied the shed when Mako-san opened the door. The remaining five members, including Hyodo Makoto, were presumably hijacking more students or empty slots that would need  
/filling before the square off with the SC. The latter seemed more plausible when Mako-san barely bothered with formalities before rushing out of the small building and into the sunshine calling that he'd be back with new recruits.

It was silent for a moment before the coach overcame his surprise and took charge. "I'm Iwaki Teppei, coach of the FC. I take it you intend to join our team?"

"Hai, Sensei. My name is Edogawa Conan. I'd like to play on your soccer team." It was a straightforward introduction but it was practical. It got the point across and named the involved party. Apparently he wasn't alone in his assessment because a second  
/voice followed mimicked his wording.

"I'm Haibara Ai. I'd like to join as a manager." When Conan turned to look at her, flabbergasted, sherolled her eyes. "What? You thought I'd hole myself up in a lab again trying to cure the ridiculous side effect of an experimental poison or something?  
/I could stand to do something fun too, Edogawa-kun."

"Oh. Right. Of course you'd want to do something besides classes. Sorry. I'm just so used to you being cooped up with your microscopes. I didn't mean anything by it." His response was slow and halting, but he'd apologized. He was probably safe from her  
/rath.

"Anyway, there are clipboards on the table outside with paperwork we'll need you both to fill out. Let's take care of that shall we?" Coach Iwaki led them to the door, instructing the rest of the team to go back to what they were doing. When they'd reached  
/the table Conan figured that they had some resembling privacy and spoke up.

"Iwaki-sensi? There's one matter I need to discuss with you before I can actually join the club."

Curious, the coach turned to face the FC's newest prospective members. "I'm all ears," he offered.

Conan glanced down then set himself to explain. This was the moment of truth, the crucial time that the entire possibility of playing soccer again was to be confirmed or squashed. "I'm a bit of a trouble magnet." He shook his head to clear his thoughts  
/before trying again. "That's not true. I'm a very strong trouble magnet with a particular affinity for stumbling across crimes. I have documentation if you'd like to see it. I regularly encounter all sorts of dangerous offenses. Murders especially.  
/I run into dead bodies, sometimes literally, on a weekly basis on a good month. There was a time that I solved homicides daily and found bodies by accident almost as often. But I've also stopped robberies, terrorist attacks and kidnappings. Away from  
/the crowds of Tokyo I don't think it will be as bad, especially because I don't actively look for cases anymore. But crime still follows me everywhere I go. I'll probably be late for practice on more than one occasion because of it. Maybe even a game.  
/There's a chance that the other players I'd befriend could be traumatized by the gore. Haibara and I are around it so often that it doesn't bother us, but it'd put the other members at risk just being near me. I don't have anyone after me or that  
/sort of thing but most people have trouble coping with deaths and it could lead to problems later on. I'd like to play soccer with your team, but it's your choice if you're willing to expose your players to that kind risk."

Iwaki considered. The kid obviously thought that it was a serious issue and he had a hunch there was a reason for that. But it couldn't really be that bad could it? Finding corpses everywhere he went sounded like an overstatement, but there was a resignation  
/behind the words that echoed and made him pause. "How bad?"

The girl answered this time, Haibara something. "The police department in Tokyo had a code for him. That bad."

It was a little hard to believe. The kid, Edogawa Conan he reminded himself, had his own code in one of the biggest cities in Japan. That meant this could be an real issue. Iwaki took a deep breath. "Are the people around you in any physical danger?"

Conan's head shot up, surprise and the vaguest traces of hope discernible on his face. He'd been looking down, probably preparing himself for disappointment. "Rarely. Only if they disobey my instructions and try to confront the criminal. I can and have  
/disarmed a felon in pretty much any circumstanceimaginable. And I have darts coated with sedative on me at all times. I was given a lot of gadgets for safety purposes when I was little and my parents figured out I couldn't just let the criminals  
/get away with the murders and kidnappings. Haibara can defend herself and anyone else if need be. They real danger is psychological. If someone doesn't listen when I tell them to look away they might never get the image out of their head."

Iwaki nodded. Okay. Very little physical danger, the kids seem like they can handle that issue. Potential emotional trauma. But again, that's really only a problem if someone disobeys Edogawa's instructions. If he can just convince the team to listen  
/to the kid when crime is involved then there was no danger. But could he do it? Could he persuade ten kids that Edogawa is the ultimate authority when trouble came calling? Should he even bother trying? "Do you like soccer?"

There were no words to describe the utter shock that was plain to see on the kid's face. As the question washed over him a smile appeared faintly. "I love soccer."

"Then you're on the team. If you want to have fun playing soccer then you're on the team. We can deal with any issues that assert themselves. The FC isn't really in a position to refuse players anyway. We need one more after you to play in an official  
/game. You're on the team."

The astounded expressions on Edogawa's, on Conan's face was enough to reassure Iwaki that he'd made the right choice. He let the silence stand for a minute before glancing at his watch. They needed to get going soon. "Hurry up with the paperwork. First  
/classes start in thirty minutes and it'll take ten to walk there."

Conan's smile grew wider and Iwaki wondered how much the kid had missed out on because of poor fortune and a reputation filled with death. If his friend's satisfied smirk was anything to go by the answer was a lot.

...

So, thoughts? I'm pretty new to fiction and creative writing in general so any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for reading my fic (hoping you enjoyed it at least a little) when you could have chosen any of millions on this sight!  
/I'd be even more grateful if you could pop me a review, just saying if you liked it, what you thought could be better or anything at all. Plot ideas are WELCOME as is any sort of response. Even a simple "keep writing" would be valued above all else.  
/I realize this is a really obscure category andthere probably aren't many crossovers between these to anime, but I'm really happy Igot to contribute and hope you enjoy my efforts. Happy reading and (for the authors out there) happy writing!


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